Second Chances: A Romance Writers of America Collection (Stark World 2.50)

"Except be murdered into near extinction," Lucas said.

"I would slit the throats of every last one of them if it meant getting my hands on that gold," Damian said.

"I know. Which is what makes us different. You would've killed Miranda and me after the Port Royal find, just to claim it as your own."

"In a heartbeat," he said, sneering. "People better than you have died on expeditions for me. Sometimes a sacrifice needs to be made for the greater good."

"The greater good meaning making you richer?" Miranda asked.

"We all have a claim to stake," Damian said. "And you and Fortune here are becoming more of a nuisance than a help for my cause. You can take it as a promise that your days are numbered."

"Interesting," Lucas said. "I'm sure the world would love to know that. And I'm sure the Pequot Nation would be very interested to hear that their lives are so expendable."

"Even better," Miranda said, "I'm sure the police would be interested in opening up any mysterious death cases involved during one of your expeditions."

Lucas pointed to the cellphone he'd rigged with dental floss in the corner of the ceiling and set to record. He climbed up and retrieved it and then handed it to Miranda.

"If you guys will excuse us, we've got plans tonight. We hope the rats don't give you too much trouble, but if I were you, I wouldn't go to sleep. They've been known to eat their young. I don't see why they'd pass up someone like you."

"Lucas, you bastard," Damian yelled as they headed out. "Let us out of here."

"I'm sure the police will be by ... eventually," Miranda said, wiggling her fingers in a goodbye wave. "Nighty, night."

"I NEED TO TELL you something," Miranda said, several hours later. She nuzzled closer and ran her hand down his chest to rest on his taut abs. The sheets were tangled at the bottom of the bed, and their legs were entwined.

"If you keep moving your hand, I can't promise I'll be able to listen."

She smiled and dipped her hand lower, so her fingers danced around his hipbone, but she didn't go further. She could already see the effect of such a simple touch, and she needed Lucas to hear what she had to say.

After they'd left Damian and his men in the cell, they drove to the closest casino on the Pequot reservation. It was only right to surrender a copy of the recording with Damian's confession to the tribal police authorities.

"Think they'll believe what you have to say about Damian's plot to steal their treasure?" She questioned.

Lucas grinned. His eyes cast a thousand-yard stare that signaled to her his thoughts were far from the current conversation.

"Yeah, they're pretty familiar with me."

"Did they catch you taking their Thanksgiving Treasure or something?" she jeered.

"No, they helped me recover it and secure it on their reservation." His smile glowed.

"You old softie." She brushed her palm across his rigid forearm.

They'd ridden the rest of the way in silence, the adrenaline rush fading and the desire building between them. There'd been no question where they'd end up. The question was what would happen after.

"I owe you an apology," she said, and she felt his inhalation, as if he were going to speak. "No, let me say it," she continued. "We were good at a lot of things during our relationship, but communication wasn't one of them. We were both so busy trying to prove to the other how capable we were that we didn't leave a lot of room for the imperfections and mistakes. And if I'm honest, you were starting to scare me a little with the chances you were willing to take during that last dive at Port Royal. I thought we were both going to die, and I wondered if that was your endgame. To go out in a blaze of glory with your name in the history books as one of the greatest treasure hunters of all time. And if that was your goal, it didn't seem like it left much of a place for me or our future."

His fingers tightened on her arm briefly, but he stayed silent and she wondered if their window had passed. If they were only reconnecting for the night before moving onto the next job.

Several minutes passed before he finally spoke. "I think I scared myself there at the end. Do you know how intimidating you are? You've got all those degrees tacked onto the end of your name, and you have that natural born intuition that makes you a hell of a partner. We were great together, but I was always afraid that you'd see me fail and that I couldn't live up to the kind of man you deserved."

"Well, that's just ridiculous," she said, lifting her head so she could look him in the eyes. "I wouldn't have stayed with you if I hadn't wanted to be there. But what I wanted didn't seem to be the same thing you wanted."

His look was serious as he slid a piece of her hair behind her ear. "And what was it you wanted that I couldn't give you?"

"Not that you couldn't give me," she corrected. "But I wanted all of you. I wanted to know that what we had was it. That our future would be together, no matter what."

"You wanted marriage?"